Archive for June, 2010

An Evening Under The Stars At Chatham Vineyard In Machipongo, Virginia

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Chatham Vineyard and Winery

I’ve always wanted to take some time and visit Chatham Vineyard and Winery up on Church Neck in Machipongo.  Chatham is quite unique in that the vineyard and winery,  which opened about ten years ago, are  part of  a large Eastern Shore  of Virginia waterfront farm called Chatham Farm which  includes  a  spectacular federal period  brick home built in the early 1800’s.  According to their website,  Chatham Farm has been a working farm for over four centuries.  So… a lot of history in each  bottle of their wine. 

 Well, last Saturday I finally made the the time and was so glad that I did.  Chatham has a number of special events each year including  “Corks and Forks”  which I think sounds very tasty.   Anyway, we  bought tickets to the kick off event of the  Chatham  Summer Concert Series.  Dinner , which started about 7 pm,  was delicious !   Savory grilled chicken with various cold salads and fresh picked corn on the cob,  well  prepared by local Chef Terry Flynn.  Of course  the  wine was great too.  Chatham specializes in a full bodied merlot but on Saturday night  they served a well chilled sangria  made especially for the event.  My husband and I both agreed that it was really fantastic.  

The after dinner entertainment on Saturday night was performed by the Tom Larsen Blues Band.  The band was billed as  “dynamic, original and exciting , an energetic and danceable show” — it definately lived up to its reputation.  Tom Larsen  completely engaged the audience with his creative guitar playing.  To demonstrate his  guitar  talents  he used as a guitar pick, among other things,  a wine bottle, a chair leg ( with the chair still attached) and even a flip flop.  My son especially enjoyed the guitar tricks,  thought they were  the best part of the evening.

All in all it was good music, good food and good fun. I can safely say a good time  was  had by everyone.  Children were off the leash for the night, running through the fields, flying kites, playing tag,  dancing and just generally kids being kids, culminating in  a carefree evening under the stars with  family and friends.  My family and I  are certainly looking forward to Chatham Winery’s  next event.    ( www.chathamvineyards.net  )

Kiteboarding in Cape Charles Is On My Bucket List

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Whenever I’m in town with my kids we usually take a few  minutes  to stroll the Cape Charles boardwalk because something interesting is always going on there . You just never know what you’ll get to see but chances are if there is a good wind,  chances are you’ll see some folks kiteboarding off the Cape Charles town beach.  Getting to watch the athletic grace of kitesurfing at sunset is unexpected treat.

Kiteboarding in Cape Charles

The terms “Kiteboarding” or “Kitesurfing”  are used  interchangeably when discussing this internationally popular sport. ( Here on the Eastern Shore of Virginia it’s always referred to as Kiteboarding. )  If you’ve never had the pleasure of watching  someone kiteboard, it’s done by using  a huge colorful kite that looks like a skydiving parachute to harness the wind and lift yourself up onto the board and just sail off. With speeds of up to 50+ miles per hour it’s definitely not for the faint of heart ! Kiteboarding is a great alternative for locations like Cape Charles that do not have the super big waves needed for conventional surfing. 

The picture shows Erin Harvey having a great time Kiteboarding off the Cape Charles beach.  After watching several exciting sessions, my sons and I agree that we are all interested in learning to Kiteboard !  Erin has assured me that I can  do it, though I must admit I’m a little more than apprehensive about it.  I suppose that is what taking instruction is for and it really does it look like fun.  Definitely on our  bucket list.